Wednesday, January 15, 2014

*Testosterone Lozenges (nicknamed “gummies”)*: “Sublingual” steroids are placed under the tongue. A-Rod was instructed to place a “troche” under his tongue just before game-time.

*Cream in the Morning, Cream at Night (nicknamed “pink food”)*: Two different types of “transdermal” creams, one applied in the morning and one in the evening—or “a combination of the two above creams applied in the evening.” Except on the days when drug tests were imminent! In April 2012, Rodriguez allegedly messaged Bosch to ask for advice as a drug test approached. Bosch told A-Rod if he was asked for a urine sample to “wait the longest you can and don’t use the pink until after.”

*Two Shots a Day (At Least) In Phase One*, Rodriguez was instructed to inject hormones under the skin in the morning and the evening, with an extra midday dose on Mondays and Friday.
Vitamin C! Amid all the HGH, testosterone, and GHRP, good old Vitamin C oral doses.

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*Cream in the Morning, Cream at Night (nicknamed “pink food”)*: Two different types of “transdermal” creams, one applied in the morning and one in the evening—or “a combination of the two above creams applied in the evening.” Except on the days when drug tests were imminent! In April 2012, Rodriguez allegedly messaged Bosch to ask for advice as a drug test approached. Bosch told A-Rod if he was asked for a urine sample to “wait the longest you can and don’t use the pink until after.”

The regimen of performance-enhancing substances delivered by Anthony Bosch to Alex Rodriguez was "probably the most potent and sophisticated drug program developed for an athlete that we've ever seen," U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart told The Associated Press.

I’m really curious about what the effects of taking a steroid shortly before a game was supposed to do. I thought the idea behind steroids was to be able to build muscle mass and recover from workouts more quickly.

One the other hand, putting these things in his mouth might explain the sour expression that ARod always seemed to have on his face.

OK, hang on. So Bosch was charging Rodriguez $12K/mo for *placebos*. I get it now. Ol' ClovenHoof is being honest when he said he never took 'roids! He *thought* he was at the time, though, does that count?

I’m really curious about what the effects of taking a steroid shortly before a game was supposed to do. I thought the idea behind steroids was to be able to build muscle mass and recover from workouts more quickly.

Muscle and strength building is done in the offseason where random unannounced tests are not possible. Players have 7 days to report for a test. Perhaps longer if they are overseas, like in the DR. Enough time to clear your system. That muscle does not disappear right away when you stop, although some players may lose a lot by seasons end w/o a good maintenance program.

During season players are mainly concerned about maintenance and recovery which require lower doses. The gummies probably helped in that regard while providing a placebo effect. Who knows what else is in there, maybe caffeine or some other legal stimulant.

I think players simply have went to low dose maintenance programs in the regular season and do the heavy duty lifting in the offseason

One thing bothered me a bit is the idea that testing was done after games in 2010-2012. How is this possible when collectors were supposed to be sending samples to Fed Ex right away and not keep them overnight? The procedures have changed now after Braun where collectors can keep them overnight or even over a weekend, but at that time it was supposed to be a big deal if a collector did not send it in right away.

During season players are mainly concerned about maintenance and recovery which require lower doses. The gummies probably helped in that regard while providing a placebo effect. Who knows what else is in there, maybe caffeine or some other legal stimulant.

Agree that the placebo effect is big here, hell I think you sample pro athletes and find an amplified placebo effect. If Bosch is telling AROD it's helping him, it probably is helping him, even if it's a sugar pill.

Don't buy the "roids didn't work for AROD" narrative either. Some athletes (and some humans) are just more resistant to ligament and muscle injuries than others. From what I've read, AROD has an arthritic hip, not arthritic in the sense of grandma can't walk, but in the sense of an elite athlete can't perform because his bones are rubbing against each other.

And this of course leads us into the platelet therapy stuff that Kobe has had done and the fat injection stuff that Colon has had done. Fug, putting fat into Colon's elbow in order to facilitate throwing a baseball is at least as much as PED as your typical roid regime.

It's all ####### better production through science, the moral aspect against steroids in particular is a long outdated argument.